Adjective and nicely balanced break down of the article Shurikid, you have a better understanding of Utada?s musical artistry and personality so more able to look beyond the commercial aspect, you have joined up the dots nicely.

What made Mr T vacate a perfectly fruitful business relationship that spawned a unparalleled level of success in Japan will probably remain a mystery for ever, It appears many who have had dealings with Cohen and co have seen careers flushed away, and U3 seem to be no exception where Exodus is concerned ?.

Sokuri, Mr T has promised to sort it all out I think it is going to take a little longer than he thought ?

Before Cohen and co read this from 2005 ?.

Japan's pop princess heads west..It?s great fun and details a interview in London ? Benjamin Secher 12:01AM BST 27 Oct 2005

????She is one of the most successful popstars on the planet, but when Hikaru Utada walks into a busy Soho patisserie?...............

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3647477/Japans-pop-princess-heads-west.html
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

Lyor Cohen is a flamboyant character and a master of persuasion, steeped in controversy from early 2001, imprecated in the FBI Murder Inc Records raid in 2001 to the TVT Records lawsuit and his dealing with P. Diddy in 2002.

Quote: U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero later reduced the award to $53 million (with $3 million due from Cohen). But in his decision, Marrero described the defendants as ?morally reprehensible? and made note of ?inconsistencies? in Cohen?s testimony.?The jury found that the CEO of the biggest rap label in the country committed fraud,? says TVT attorney Peter Haviland. ?This is a guy, the co-director of Murder Inc., where bodies continue to drop every couple of weeks.?

Lyor Cohen, the Real Slim Shady?...from 2003

http://michaelseneadza.com/blog/2003/12/lyor_cohen_the_real_slim_shady/

http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/lyor-cohen
(click read more) ..

Def Jam, Lyor Cohen Guilty Of Fraud; Ja Rule Fights Patrick 'Dirty Dancing' Swayze

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1470748/def-jam-lyor-cohen-guilty-fraud.jhtml

Then we have Jean-Marie Messier Chairman and CEO of Vivendi/Universal standing to the left of Cohen in the photo, while Utada was putting pen to paper the two dudes leaning on her chair were conspiring in acts of insider trading and fraud ?

French Court Convicts Executives in Vivendi Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/business/global/22vivendi.html?ref=jeanmariemessier

Edgar Bronfman Jr convicted in Vivendi case...

Warner Music Group chairman receives ?5m fine for insider trading, while Jean-Marie Messier is convicted of another offence?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/21/edgar-bronfman-jr-vivendi

Listen to the Doug Morris Universal Music Group Chairman standing next to Jean-Marie Messier after the trial of Cohen?

?He?s always been slightly eccentric, but he?s totally irreplaceable,? UMG chairman Morris once said. And he was aggressive, a player who made things happen. Newsweek magazine crowned him ?rap?s unlikely king.?

?Lyor?s got a reputation as a hard-nosed businessman,? says Adler, who was Def Jam?s publicist during the Run-DMC era. ?But he?s in a hard-nosed business. You cannot be a cream puff and run a record label.?

Cohen once staked out rapper Foxy Brown?s home, convincing her to sign with Def Jam when she finally emerged. On another occasion, he signed the group 112 away from Sean . Diddy? Combs? Bad Boy label and then told the Financial Times: ?If you haven?t nailed it down, expect for it to be taken.?

Jean-Marie Messier was responsible for the near collapse of Vivendi/Universal 8 years ago, it is little wonder that Utada had little promotion during the US release of Exodus, literally as Utada was wondering what the hell was going on within the structure of IDF, Universal the parent company was concentrating fighting off bankruptcy ?..

This Utada?s take on the whole sorry saga?.From the Hikaru Utada: The Complete JQ Interview.. May 2009?

Yes, years prior to that. I was living in Japan at the time when that happened [in
2002], and I thought, ?Oh, it?s probably going to come out very soon,? and I think it
was something like a two or three year wait?And part of the reason was because of all that happening and..I guess I wasn?t mentally conscious and aware as an artist myself of how to promote myself that I?d never done that kind of stuff before. It?s not really the artist?s thing to worry about?it shouldn?t be, really. But now I?m more hands-on with it. I?m more involved in the promotional aspect of it, too. Because I learned from last time what kind of PR group you choose and have to work with you [on] what you don?t need, what you need, and how much to be in touch with the record company on this and who to be in touch with for what, and all those kinds of quirks with it. There?s a lot to work with it, and now I?m working with THE DOOR this time, we got a different company for that, and?everything?s quite efficient I think, much more efficient than last time, and I feel support, I feel some kind of face?I felt so insecure during the recording and promotion of Exodus, because it didn?t seem like anyone knew what I wanted to do, and I didn?t know how to get it across to these people. We were not on the same page at all, and now it seems we are.

http://jetaany.org/magazine_files/utada.pdf


Astonishingly Lyor Cohen and Edgar Bronfman Jr are current Warners CEO and Music Group chairman respectively and are expected to be one of the bidders for EMI .....

http://www.themusicvoid.com/2011/06/warner-music-blavatnik-bring-baggage-to-an-emi-deal/

Part 2 later next week ???